Popeye, Vol. 6: Me Li'l Swee'Pea Hardcover – May 1, 2012

The product description writes, "E.C. Segar, arguably the funniest cartoonist to ever lay ink to paper..." and a quote from VICE Magazine states, `Name a funnier comic than [Segar's] Popeye. Wrong. Idiot. There isn't one." VICE is correct. Segar is the greatest ever which makes his early death at the age of 44 all the more tragic. Volume 6 is the final volume of the greatest reproduction of the greatest comic strip of all time. Now when I place all 6 volumes on a shelf they finally complete the spelling of POPEYE this volume having the letter E on the spine.Segar's success isn't about a one-eyed sailor or his lanky girlfriend or his rotund mooching friend. Creating unique and compelling characters was just one of his many skills. Segar's real talent was in flowing storytelling, an amazing sense of comedic timing and an ability to write tales that are timeless. I've been reading the wonderful Mickey Mouse stories of Floyd Gottfredson, also collected by Fantagraphics, but many of the jokes feel like they are of the era in which they are written. Segar jokes are as relevant and funny today as they were 80 years ago. Segar also had a serious edginess that can still surprise modern readers.In Segar's final story, which he didn't complete, Wimpy manages to save Olive from some demons who are attempting to pull her into the ground. When Olive suggests Wimpy might get a medal for saving her it occurs to him that if she were more injured he would be even more likely to get a medal so he proceeds to beat her mercilessly into unconsciousness. Seriously. The final gag has Popeye searching for a medal for Wimpy only to find Wimpy a mangled mess after Olive wakes up and exacts revenge. In one of the Sunday funnies Popeye invents a machine to diaper babies. Just put the baby into a machine turn a crank and it pops out diapered. So Swea'Pea and his dog manage to fling some sausage links into the machine and when Popeye tries to demonstrate his diapering machine to a mother her baby is put in and sausage links come out. These are shocking moments made all the more amazing and hilarious because Segar was near peerless in both timing and artistic deftness. There are almost no flaws in his bag of tricks.What Segar was able to do was create unique and disparate characters, infuse each with their own personality and keep them consistent and believable. You could hardly find two characters more different than Popeye and Wimpy and yet Segar was able to write them as wholly independent minds. I've seen even acclaimed writers who couldn't pull that off. I've always loved when Segar would introduce a new heavy to challenge Popeye and volume 6 doesn't disappoint. Sea Hag has a new beast named Bolo, a hulking behemoth named Limbo and a spinach eating boxer named Kid Mustard. Segar sets `em up and Popeye knocks `em down. Just about all the famous cast of characters put in appearances including Geezel who appears late in the volume and even King Blozo makes in a cameo.If there is perfection in comics this is it. Who knows what could have been had Segar been able to continue his work for several more decades but alas perhaps 9 years was all the comic gods could allow. If you have none of these volumes you should own all 6. I give this collection 5 stars because Amazon doesn't allow more. This really is the ultimate collection of the best comic ever. Do not hesitate to pick it up.

You already know what to expect if you have read the first five volumes of Fantagraphics' epic reprinting of E. C. Segar's 'Popeye' -- the funniest, the toughest, occasionally the scariest comic strip ever to appear in the 'funny pages'.This, sadly, is the last volume in the series, the last daily sequence ending abruptly when Segar fell sick for the last time. That is the bad news.The good news is that there may be more Segar 'Popeye' in the pipeline for fans.In his introduction to this volume, Richard Marschall mentions a 190-page novel, 'The Sea Hag', written by Segar in 1930. It was never published, apparently because the syndicate, King Features, objected to it. Marschall seems to have finally got around King Features' reservations, and hopes to get it published in the near future.Anyone who has read Segar's 'Popeye' knows just how good a writer he was, possibly equalled only Milton Caniff and Al Capp among his peers. I hope Marschall publishes the novel as quickly as possible.Until then of course we still have this magnificent six-volume set with its huge Sunday pages and crisply-reproduced dailies to keep us company.Fantagraphics deserves every comic strip fan's gratitude for completing this project. Not to be greedy, but would they consider reprinting the early 'Thimble Theatre' strips, the ones that preceded the arrival of Popeye?

This book arrived in like-new condition, exactly as described. It was SO carefully packed! It was a gift, and the recipient was delighted. I would definitely buy books again from this seller.

A fantastic book. My nine year old boy and I have loved every vol. of this beautifuly well put together series. It returns the genius of Segar as a storyteller and artist to us in an over sized collection of daily strips and full color sunday panels.My highest praise and thanks to Fantagraphics Books for putting together a magnificent reprinting of a wonderful comic strip.

Beautiful reprints of the early Popeye dailies and Sunday's. These strips are like graphic adventure stories. Popeye is a complex personality.

Although the book was damaged, the pages themselves were in mint condition and the book was a joy to have in my collection. A little repair work on the cover was all that it needed and it was priced right. I didn't want to spend a lot of money and the book was just fine for me.

Fantastic work! I never have been wild about the size of the strips but it is a nice book otherwise. The characters are different from the cartoons and that is a good thing. Segar is brilliant and the only bad thing about his work with Popeye is that there is only a finite amount. Enjoy.

A great introduction to the language and mores of 1930s for today's kids.

Ein Muss für jeden Liebhaber des "wahren" Segar-Popeye. Segars Popeye ist ein unsterblicher Comic-Strip mit tiefen, gut ausgearbeiteten Charakteren. Die neue Fantagraphics-Ausgabe gibt die Farb-Sonntagseiten sehr schön wieder und auch die Druckqualität der schwarz/weißen Tagesstrip ist ein Hochgenuss. Lediglich das große Format ist ein geringfügiger Kompromiss. Es ist für die Sonntagsseiten ein Muss, aber für die Werktagsstrips wäre ein kleineres Format handlicher. Aber es ist ein gut gewählter Kompromiss und das Ergebnis ist seinen Preis mehr als wert.

As a Popeye fan this is a another book in the six part collection of Popeye by E.C.Segar

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Fantastic.